Eco-tourism has spinoff for ethnic villagers

Tourism will ensure stable incomes for residents in buffer zones around national parks and will ensure better protection of the parks and the wildlife they shelter. Tham Thi Men was everywhere at the same time. The 48-year-old ethnic Tay woman was on stage singing a traditional song; she was being an attractive hostess inviting guests to enjoy Tay cakes that she and her neighbours had made, and she was in the kitchen preparing lunch for visitors at the communal Long House.

The Long House is located near the new ethnic Stieng resettlement area in Ta Lai Commune, Tan Phu District, in the southern province of Dong Nai.

The 125sq.m house was built in five months with bamboo, wood, rattan and other natural materials. It opened to visitors in the middle of February.

The house is the first community-based tourism guesthouse in the area. It was built under a project, funded by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), that promotes community-based ecotourism in Viet Nam's national parks.

The project has been carried out by the WWF in collaboration with the Nam Cat Tien National Park since 2008.

"Ecotourism planning in and around the park is carried out through a participatory multi-stakeholder process and is incorporated into development plans at commune, district and provincial levels," she explained.

According to the chairman of Ta Lai Commune, Dang Vu Hiep, the house offers not only cultural meaning but also economic value to ethnic groups living in the region.

"Community-based tourism will create stable livelihoods for local people by helping reduce pressure on natural resources, raising people's awareness of environmental protection and promoting cultural characters of ethnic communities," he said.

The house is all set to receive visitors now. To introduce the Long House to travel agencies including adventure tour operators, project managers organised a trip few weeks ago to the national park.

Everything had been carefully prepared.

Special dishes typically eaten by local ethnic minorities of Stieng, Ma and Tay had been prepared. People in the communities had been employed as chefs, guides and hospitality service providers.

The community-based tourism model applied here had the participation of around 30 households.

"I have liked to sing and dance since I was a little girl. Now I can join the team to perform for visitors, that's my dream. I can earn a living from what I like to do best," 17-year-old K'Nhung said happily.

Would visitors come to stay in the Long House, the few people wondered.

"There are a few Vietnamese tourists who like adventure and eco-tourism. But the potential to attract foreign customers is very huge," said Jean-Luc Voisin, director of the VietAdventure company. The company is major partner with the park in the project. "I believe the model will develop better in the near future. Tourists will enjoy a night in the forest, taste special food and traditional art performances by local residents," he added.

From Ta Lai Commune, 12km from the head-office of Nam Cat Tien Park's management board, tourists can trek or go cycling through the forest.

"If permitted, we would like to reopen the 60km cycling route through the park and Ta Lai will be our stopping place," said Le Van Sinh, CEO of SinhBalo Adventure Travel company.

Project managers hope that around 4,500 visitors would visit Ta Lai each year.

They are also offering another buffer zone of the park, Dak Lua, as a tourism destination.

"We have already looked at Dak Lua, where has a very big rice field. We have chosen to develop the home-stay model there and three houses were selected. But Dak Lua is not as attractive as Ta Lai with its many traditional customs," said Nguyen Thi Hai Ha, managing director of Innoviet company.

"We know it is very hard, but it's a starting point to help villagers get involved in community tourism and improve their living standards while sharing the responsibility to protect the park," said K' Yeu, head of Ta Lai Village.

Successfull!

Thanks for your comment on this article! Your comment will be wait to display on moderator.

If you get the chance to visit the northern province of Bac Giang, you should not miss the opportunity to take in the sacred landscape around Bo Da Pagoda in Thuong Lat Hamlet, Tien Son Commune, Viet Yen District. Continue reading →

The national tourism year 2013 will be held in Haiphong City aiming to introduce destinations, attract both domestic and foreign visitors, and foster tourism linkage among localities across the country. Continue reading →

Experts from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) have toured Dong Nai, Binh Phuoc and Lam Dong provinces to prepare the dossiers of the Cat Tien National Park to be submitted to the UNESCO for recognition as a world natural heritage. Continue reading →

A wide range of ceremonial, cultural and sporting activities are being held in Hai Duong Province to celebrate the recognition of Con Son-Kiep Bac historical complex as a special national heritage. Continue reading →

Nearly 30 years ago the French film director Jean Jacques Annaud went to the southern city of Can Tho to shoot scenes for his filmThe Lover. He was seduced by the beauty of the ancient house of Binh Thuy, and decided that it would form a part of his movie. Continue reading →

An exploration team at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Phong Nha – Ke Bang Park in central Vietnam - has discovered two lakes that are so "mysteriously" deep that modern equipment had not been able to measure them. Continue reading →

The Kate Festival celebration of the ethnic Cham people will take place at Po Sah Inu Tower in Binh Thuan Province's Phan Thiet City on October 15-16 with a series of traditional rituals and festivities. Continue reading →

The reserve in Ninh Binh Province is a primeval tropical forest with spectacularly shaped limestone mountains surrounding the north's largest wetland, an area described as an "inland Ha Long Bay". Continue reading →

Hon Thom, which literally means the “fragrant isle” due to its many wild fragrant trees, has emerged as a new destination just outside the famous resort town of Nha Trang, especially for those who really want to escape. Continue reading →

O Loan Lagoon is one of the best-known scenic spots in the southern province of Phu Yen, drawing many visitors thanks to the area's picturesque scenery and also the delicious seafood on offer here. Continue reading →

For the first time ever, the historic town of Hoi An has been voted one of the top 10 cities in Asia by the annual Readers’ Choice Awards held by Condé Nast Traveler, the world's premier travel magazine. Continue reading →

The traditional Vietnamese custom of chewing betel leaf and areca nut is the focus of a new 100-item exhibition at the Vietnam National Museum of History in Hanoi through January next year. Continue reading →

There are no ticket booths at the door or any ticket collectors hanging around, and visitors are simply led upstairs inside what appears to be a normal, three-storey Vietnamese home on a small lane deep off the capital city's bustling Kham Thien Street. Continue reading →

The fourth national then singing festival is being held in Lang Son Province as part of the country's efforts to honour and preserve the traditional art of the Tay, Nung and Thai ethnic groups in north-western Viet Nam. The festival was also an opportunity to prepare a dossier to submit to UNESCO to recognise the folk singing as an intangible cultural heritage. Continue reading →

The southern province of Ben Tre has long been known as the land of coconut trees. The income of local people has historically come from growing and selling fresh coconut. Yet visitors to the province today might be amazed by the immense green sprawl and pervasive scent of jasmine. Continue reading →

Nha Trang's sun, sand and sea lured me away from other inland attractions when I came to the central coastal city for my honeymoon a couple of years ago. I had been fooled into thinking Nha Trang, the south central province of Khanh Hoa, was just a beautiful beach. When I recently returned, I discovered the city has more to offer, noticeably the giant Po Nagar Temples complex. Continue reading →

Ho Thi Bui, a 24-year-old member of the Pa Ko ethnic group in the central province of Quang Tri, had never touched a camera before she joined a short training course as part of project to help ethnic people document their lives in photographs. Continue reading →

The Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) provinces should focus on improving the lives of their ethnic minority communities as a crucial step to reinvigorating the faltering tourism sector in the region, experts say. Thriving ethnic minority communities are essential to preserving and developing the region's unique cultural diversity, they added. Continue reading →

The mountainous district of Tay Giang, 190km west of Tam Ky City in the central province of Quang Nam, is increasingly becoming known as a prime destination for motorbike adventures. The area offers amazing scenery and the opportunity to glimpse the lifestyle of members of the ethnic minority group Co Tu, who make up the majority of the district's population of 13,000. Continue reading →

The Hue Centre for Monuments Conservation and the UNESCO World Heritage Institute under the Japanese-based Waseda University on Tuesday broke ground for restoration of Dien Phuoc Princess Temple in Kim Long Ward in the former royal city of Hue. Continue reading →

The central city of Da Nang has made plans to invest in a new tourist site at the top of the Hai Van Pass in order to lure domestic and foreign tourists, vice director of the city's culture, sport and tourism department, Tran Chi Cuong has said. Continue reading →

In context of the current economic woes in the world, the tourism sector is still striving to attract more people to visit the Mekong Delta area in Vietnam, which is offering unique, stress free and exotic tours. Continue reading →

The government wants 2013 to be the year tourism really takes off in Viet Nam and will make the Red River Delta a focal point of this drive by highlighting its wealth of heritage and stunning natural beauty. Continue reading →

There is something about a mountain that is sacred, maybe it is its aloofness, the fact that it stands away from the hustle and bustle of daily life, offering an ideal space for introspection, reflection and meditation. And some mountains become sacred hotspots after houses of worship are constructed on them. Continue reading →

While some travelers to Vietnam complain that the country’s tourist industry pales in comparison to those of other Southeast Asian destinations, I for one am glad that newcomers to Vietnam can still dig the raw madness of the Nha Trang Booze Cruise. Continue reading →

The special ambience of Christmas has warmed up big cities like Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh. In many corners of the capital, from streets to family homes, from churches to shops, decorations with lights, snow, Santa Clauses and Christmas gifts are appearing. Continue reading →

Many valuable artefacts from the Cham culture have been found in the southern central province of Binh Thuan. The new discoveries are important for ongoing research on the ancient culture, according to Nguyen Xuan Ly, director of the provincial museum. Continue reading →

On May 29, in the blazing sun of the mountainous region, 24 racehorses from Bac Ha, Si Ma Cai and Muong Khuong in Lao Cai province entered the finale to seek the winner of a VND20 million ($1000) bonus. Continue reading →

Pu Luong Nature Reserve, just a stone's throw from Hanoi, makes for an idyllic and scenic getaway from the big smoke. In the words of the local Thai people, Pu Luong means the "highest peak", it's loftiest zenith towering 1,700m above the valleys of Quan Hoa and Ba Thu, in Thanh Hoa Province. Continue reading →

The old Dong Van Market in the Dong Van Karst Plateau of Ha Giang Province has reopened for tourism after a new market was built for locals 500m away, vice chairwoman of the People's Committee of Dong Van District Ly Thi Kien told Viet Nam News yesterday. Continue reading →

Mai Chau was described as "a semi-isolated village in Viet Nam...surrounded by limestone cliffs and green rice paddies, populated largely by members of the ethnic White Thai tribe..." by Agoda.com Continue reading →

The terraced rice fields of Hoang Su Phi District in the northern border province of Ha Giang have been recognized as a national heritage site by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Continue reading →

A system of lava caves including one considered as the longest lava cave of Southeast Asia has been discovered in the southern province of Dong Nai, according to researcher Truong Ba Vuong of the Viet Nam's Institute of Tropical Biology. Continue reading →